Striker Shane talks about his astonishing 51-goal haul for St Neots this season.

GOAL machine Shane Tolley admits he has surprised even himself with his staggering 51-goal haul for St Neots Town this season - after missing the first month of the campaign through injury.

Ex-Peterborough youth striker Tolley arrived in late August, relocating back to the area after spells in the West Country with Truro, Bideford and Barnstaple, scoring his first league goal on September 7.

“I never expected to end up with over 50 goals,” Tolley said.

“Especially because I was actually carrying an injury when I moved up, so I was just happy to start playing really and started scoring a few - and it just carried on from there.

“I think as the season goes on more and more people around the club tell you how many goals you’ve got, so then you begin to listen out for your stats.

“And, at the end of the day, that’s what strikers are there for - to score goals and you’ve got to appreciate it when they do come.”

Tolley, 26, also ranks Saints’ title-winning UCL campaign as one of his career highlights and is confident they can fire at Step 4 next season.

He said: “Days like this [title wins] are the reason we’re all here and, if we hadn’t managed to get promoted, it would have left a sour taste for me really, no matter how many goals I’ve scored this season.

“It’s definitely up there among my highlights so far, especially with King’s Lynn pushing us all the way.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t go and compete for the league above next season as well.

“The squad needs to improve as you go up the levels but, all we can do while we’re here at the moment, is do our best and we’ve obviously proved this year that we’re good enough at this level.

“So it’s up to us now to go and prove it at the next level.”